Mayfair, London

Mayfair is more than just the most expensive square on the UK Monopoly board, it is a charming and underexplored quarter right in the heart of London.

Bounded by Park Lane, Oxford Street, Regent Street, and Piccadilly, it provides an oasis of calm amid these bustling thoroughfares. The hidden yards, authentic pubs and intimate restaurants around Shepherd Market are a well-kept secret, a contrast to the grand squares of Hanover Square and Berkeley Square (now dominated by traffic) and Grosvenor Square (home to the US Embassy and its attendant security). Blockbuster art shows are staged at the Royal Academy on Piccadilly, while behind it are tucked high-end private dealers, and over the road in Mason's Yard the fashionable White Cube now has an outpost.

The area's heydays were the Regency period at the beginning of the 19th Century, and the inter war years of the 1920s and 30s when it was playground to the idle rich and fictional home to PG Wodehouse's Bertie Wooster. Mayfair and St James's (South of Piccadilly) still have some of London's oldest and most traditional shops: the shirtmakers of Jermyn Street, the bespoke tailors of Savile Row, Fortnum & Mason (best known for its quality groceries), and the covered arcades - Burlington Arcade, Piccadilly Arcade, and Prince's Arcade - the former still patrolled by uniformed Beadles.

Among the top hotels in Mayfair are Flemings Mayfair Hotel on the evocatively named Half Moon Street; Chesterfield Mayfair Hotel; historic Browns and the Connaught (the latter offers butlers); and the opulent May Fair Hotel, a Radisson Edwardian venture, which offers some truly stunning suites.

Mayfair hotels also include two of the world's most famous hotel names: the Ritz, on Piccadilly, which operates a no-jeans dress code; and Claridges, which has sheltered many crowned heads of state in its time.

And there are more hotels near Mayfair amid the private members clubs of St James' (Duke's, The Stafford, St James' and the Cavendish) and on the Park Lane hotel strip.

To find a cut price deal on a top-notch Mayfair hotel, fill in your arrival dates in the search box above and we'll search through the best options for you. Alternatively call one of our London West End Hotel Specialists on 020 7437 4370 or email us at at jenny@LondonTown.com